When You Belong Where You Believe
by KuroNekoGami
Summary: "Deny it all you want, Severus Snape! You know it's true!" A thoughtful expression crossed her face as her eyes followed his retreating form. Hooked nose, yellow teeth, greasy hair and all, she never could figure out why she liked him so much.
1. Chapter 1

_^Neko walks in stage left^_

First Fanfic Post! Yay! _^everyone applauds^_

After Deathly Hallows pt.2 came out, I really wanted to write a good fanfic about Harry Potter but none of my ideas were good enough, it wasn't until the full release of Pottermore that I started getting very good ideas and soon they were accumulating into one wonderful mass. The only thing missing was a main OC character. My cousin helped out on that one when we started coauthoring a story, and soon the first few pieces of this story were completed.

I don't know how it turned out but I hope its okay. I'll probably revise it again after it's finished.

So, about my story:

It goes from the marauders time to post DH so it's probably going to be a little long. There is an OC and she is a Mary-Sue. Please no flames. I know she's a Sue and because of that I will be extra careful on not making her cringe worthy.

CC is greatly wanted and don't hesitate to point out any mistakes. I'm the type of author to go back and correct things when I post a new chapter so you may want to look back on previous chapters for any corrections in the future.

Let's see, I don't know how often I will be able to update especially with college looming around the corner, so bear with me until I can get a rough estimate on how fast I can get out chapters.

I don't have a beta and I don't feel I need one as my cousin is as much of an editor as I need(she's in college to be an editor anyway). She helps me with any spelling errors and plot bunnies.

After each chapter I will have a little rant on facts about the story, and other randomness if I feel like it.

One more thing. Above all I want people to enjoy my story as that is why i love to write. I ask anyone who reads any of my stories to give positive feed back. You will make this otaku very happy!

Last but not least, the disclaimer:

I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. I do own my OC characters.

_^Neko exits stage right^_

On with the story-

* * *

><p>Ch:1<p>

In which a wand chooses…

To say Sam was excited would be the understatement of the year. She had done it! She had talked her adoptive uncle into pulling a few well place strings and allowing her to go to Hogwarts, the best wizarding school in the world!

Three weeks ago her official acceptance letter had come to their little house in Illinois and ever since Sam had been anticipating the day that they would go to London to get her supplies. Many books on her 'to read' list could be found in Diagon Alley. Though she could have always ordered the books, the cost for overseas shipment was quite expensive and, to her dismay, they weren't exactly rich.

Today however, she would have many opportunities to buy all of those books. She could almost feel the spines of them under her finger tips as the two walked into The Leaky Cauldron.

There were originally four in their group, but Anna and Gabe, Sam's little cousin, had gone to Anna's London flat, preparing it to be occupied for the next few days. Ira, her uncle, took Sam to get her supplies.

They walked to the back of the pub and into a tiny courtyard. Ira stood in front of the trash can counting three up and two across before tapping the right brick. Immediately a hole appeared in the brick, increasing in size until it was a large archway into the busy streets of Diagon Alley.

Sam didn't even have enough time to look around before Ira had her whisked away to Gringotts. Glasses knocked askew, it took her a moment to find her bearings and right them before she looked up at the world famous wizarding bank.

Her first impression of the bank was intimidating. Its lopsidedness made it leer down on the rest of the shops and it was even, arguably, the tallest building.

Ira led Sam past the scarlet and gold clad sentries and through the bronze doors. The main hall was quite grand and completely flanked by goblins. Had it not been for the fact that the goblins seemed to not even notice their entrance, she would have probably turned around and walked right back out again.

Ira walked right up to the head goblin and said authoritatively, "I would like to make a withdrawal." taking out a little silver key as he did so.

The goblin looked up at Ira for a second before snatching the key and inspecting it. Satisfied, he snapped his fingers and another goblin walked up, took the key, and told them to follow.

Sam loved the rollercoaster-like ride down to their vault, her glasses held safely in one hand while the other was waving about wildly. It was rather disappointing when the goblin cried out, "Vault 614!"

The goblin quickly unlocked the vault and Ira took out a small bag stuffing what looked like more galleons than the bag could carry - under certain circumstances, of course. Sam was stuffing her pockets as well, preparing for the bookshops around Daigon Alley, with glee.

Their first task done, they both stepped out of the bank and she finally got her chance to fully see the alley.

Sam looked around in wonder. Diagon Alley really was an amazing place. Already she had seen a dozen shops she wanted to enter, the most prominent being Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, Flourish and Blotts, Magical Menagerie, and several peddler stalls selling eye-catching knickknacks.

Distracted by a peddler selling beautifully crafted phials, Ira had to practically drag Sam down to the South side of the Alley.

"First things first, my dear, you are getting your wand. Then you can go around to the other shops. I'll even let you have free reign. Here take a few more galleons. As much as I know you love books you probably don't want to spend all of you time getting them." said Ira, thinking of the long lines he had to go through to get his books when he was her age.

"Ah, here we are."

They now stood outside a shabby old shop. The windows had a few cracks and the sign was peeling. Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. could just be made out. Sam, though, was not put out by the shabby atmosphere, and walked into the shop. She gazed, interested, at the many stacks of boxes, the smell of fresh wood from the new wands filling her nose.

A grey haired man walked out from behind a stack and smiled in recognition at Ira. "Mr. Werder; Elm and dragon heartstring, 10 inches, rigid, am I right?"

"Quite, Mr. Ollivander." Ira smirked. "I'm actually here to get my niece fitted with a wand; she will be starting her first year in just a few days."

Mr. Ollivander looked at her, immediately taking out a measuring tape that flew out of his hands and started taking measurements of her body. At first it was the basics; height, arm length, finger length, then it started measuring strange things like nostril length and even between her eyes. While Sam was getting more tangled up in the tape Mr. Ollivander was taking note of every measurement made and asked which hand was dominant.

She answered her right, and, satisfied, he called back the measuring tape, going to the back of the shop. Not a minute passed before he was back with five boxes.

He took a very nice looking brown wood wand out and handed it to her before immediately taking it away and handing her another, repeating the process and mumbling "no, no" every time.

Ira strolled over to an empty chair and sat, taking a small book out of his pocket and flipping to a page. Already having gone through all five wands Mr. Ollivander was in the back, getting more boxes. This wasn't how Sam had pictured getting a wand would be like, and glared at Ira lounging in the chair.

Fifteen minutes had passed. Some wands had sparked or warmed in her hand, others were lifeless, either way Mr. Ollivander was not happy with any of them. This didn't appear to be a bad thing as each failed wand seemed to make him more excited, saying "interesting" at every new reaction.

With the last failed wand giving a few pathetic sparks, Mr. Ollivander pause for a moment thinking before whispering "I wonder…" and disappearing into the back for a whole minute.

Sam almost thought he had given up, when he came back out with a very old looking dark blue box. He removed the lid and took out a beautiful light wood wand. It had a simple design, a doubled spiral on the handle, ending at a textured thumb rest wrapped just around the middle.

He handed it to her and she immediately felt a connection, like warmth had spread through her.

"Interesting." said the wand-maker, a thoughtful expression on his face. Ira was now interested as well, as he had walked up behind her. Both had expressions begging Mr. Ollivander to elaborate.

"English oak and phoenix feather, 11 inches, slightly springy; this wand has been around the shop, waiting for an owner for over a thousand years. You see, this wand was part of a pair of wands. The wands not only shared a feather donor but a tree as well. The owner of its brother was one of the greatest wizards in our history."

Sam, surprised, asked "Who was it?"

Smiling, Mr. Ollivander said one word "Merlin".

* * *

><p><em>^Neko walks in stage left^<em>

So what did you think?

CC, again, is highly coveted! :3

As much as I tried, I couldn't help making Sam a bit Mary-Sueish; its soooo hard not to make a Sue. SO I've accepted my OC's fate and am trying to make her the best Mary-Sue possible.

**warning Twilight bashing** The way I see it, at least she isn't Bella material. XP

Okay Pottermore spoiler! Skip until the second set of om noms.

Om nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

It is specifically stated on Pottermore that there's a rumor that says Merlin's wand wood was English Oak. Phoenix feather is the rarest core type out of all of Ollivander's wands and Ollivander's has been around in England since 382 B.C. We can hypothesize from that, that perhaps Ollivander would know what type of wand Merlin had and from the description of the properties of the Phoenix feather as a wand core, that it could have been used in Merlin's wand.

Sam's wand, or rather _our wand_, is English Oak and Phoenix feather. With the fact that the wand chooses the wizard, and that our wand is similar to Merlin's; why couldn't it be possible for us to get the brother wand of the great Merlin. :3

Om nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

_^Neko exits stage right^_

Stay alert for the next chapter where two very familiar cannon characters are indirectly introduced.


	2. Chapter 2

^Neko walks in stage left^

Yay second post! Omg second post in a day! I'm amazing!

Disclaimer:

I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. I do own my OC characters (and anything else that is unfamiliar).

^Neko exits stage right.^

On with the story-

* * *

><p>Ch:1<p>

In which fated meetings occur…

After paying 7 galleons for Sam's new wand, the pair walked out of Ollivander's. Ira, true to his promise, left Sam to her own shopping and headed toward the North side and Flourish and Blotts telling her to meet him there when she was done.

Still pondering the new piece of information Mr. Ollivander had indulged them in, the wand tucked snuggly in Sam's inner pocket of her robe, she started down the cobbled street, with research in mind. After a few buildings, she spotted one called Obscurus books, and slipped inside.

It was a quaint little shop, both publishing and selling books, with the front dedicated strictly to the latter. Bookshelves covered the walls and a small door, presumably leading to the office, was placed at the back.

Oh! How Sam loved books. You could learn so much from them- including information on very famous witches and wizards. Sam spent the first few minutes perusing the shelves and taking note of books that caught her eye.

Picking up _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_ Sam scanned through it, and, satisfied, tucked it under her arm. Since she was in a book shop, why not indulge.

It didn't take very long for Sam to acquire three other interesting books; _Asiatic Anti Venoms_, _Pagan Magic_, and _A Guide to Occlumency_.

Sam paid for the books, but a few steps out of the shop it became apparent that the sizes of the books were going to impede her shopping. Too many books and she wouldn't be able to walk.

Pausing to think, Sam quickly figured this wouldn't be a bad time to try out a spell or two with her new wand. Carefully balancing the books with one arm she took out her wand and pointed it at the top book, saying a spell she had seen her uncle use many times in the past.

"Reducio!" Nothing happened.

Disappointed, she tried with a little more force. Again nothing happened.

She sighed, aggravated, but refused to give up. She would get this spell right if it was the last thing she did. Clearing her mind she focused on nothing but the image of the book shrinking to a more manageable size.

She took a calming breath and said the spell, finally getting some results. The book was a little smaller than what she pictured but it was not a problem. Now that she got the spell, it simply needed some work.

Sam shrank the rest of the books and continued on her way to Wizhard Books where she bought; _Werewolves and Other Category XXXXX Creatures_, and _A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions_.

Next she hit Scribbulus and got various quills, journals, and ink for her classes.

The same peddler whom had caught her attention earlier was still there so she splurged on some fancy potion's phials. Other peddlers were selling some interesting trinkets and items and she bought those as well.

Now weighted down with books, a slew of other items, and a new satchel to put them in, Sam made her way to her _other_ favorite store, the apothecary!

* * *

><p>Sam walked into Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, seated between a cauldron shop and Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. Her nose was assaulted with the smell of rotten eggs and rotting cabbage. Surprisingly this didn't make her sick in the slightest, for even though she had a very sensitive stomach to smells, she had smelled these sorts of things for almost 5 years. If anything, it made her feel even more at home, as she walked among the aisles of potions ingredients.<p>

Already having memorized the entire basic potions ingredients list, her hands started picking up all the ingredients she would need this year without a second thought. Her arms were quickly overflowing with various plants, parts of animals and other things.

She had finally gotten to the last row, this one containing mostly equipment for potion brewing, when she paused. There was someone else down the row, a boy, staring at a fancy set of scales with such longing Sam almost felt sorry him.

Not being a people person, she was just about to turn around and got to the register when a man came around the corner and asked if they needed help with anything. Turning his head the boy mumbled a "no" and turned back to the scales, frowning, before walking out of the shop.

The man turned to her and asked if she was ready to check out. She thought for a second, before mentally cursing herself.

"Give me a second." She said.

* * *

><p>Sam walked out of the apothecary with a spring in her step and two paper bags.<p>

'Now,' she thought, 'all I need to do is find that boy.'

Sam looked around but the boy from the apothecary was nowhere to be found. She frowned, but figured even if she didn't find him today; she was bound to run into him sometime at Hogwarts.

There was one more place on Sam's list that she wanted to visit before making her way to Flourish and Blotts; Magical Menagerie.

Sam had been talking it over with Ira for months. You see, she loved cats and had wanted one for a couple years now. Ira thought it silly and wanted to get her an owl instead. He said having an owl wouldn't give her any chances of an excuse not to write. The argument had lasted weeks. Toward the end, when they had stopped talking all together, Anna was fed up and settled the argument with a few choice words, some death threats, and an agreement.

Sam would get her cat, but she would also be getting an owl and Anna would even pay for both.

Smiling happily, Sam walked into the noisy shop, filled with meows, squawks, hoots and other sounds, taking out a small scarlet bag filled with a few galleons.

"Can I help you, young lady?" the store clerk said while feeding some of the owls.

"You wouldn't happen to have any black cats at the moment, would you?" she said, stroking a particularly regal looking owl that blinked slowly at the touch.

"In the back, are you looking for any in particular? We have magical and normal ones. Those that are outside the cages are harmless and already have names."

"Normal is fine. I'm just looking for a companion for school."

She followed the clerk to the back where there were stacks of cat cages. The clerk told her she'd probably have to look around for the black cats in particular and if she had any questions to just ask, before leaving her among the glowing eyes.

She took her time looking into the cages and seeing if any appealed to her. There were a few cats that weren't in cages and freely came up to her for pets but again none caught her eye.

Sam sighed, about to go for an older looking cat that had licked her fingers when she put them to the cage, when a soft coo caught her attention. She looked around for the source; a small cage in the corner with and even smaller inhabitant pawing at the air outside the cage.

Unlocking the door, a tiny black and white kitten hopped into her hands and cooed again, the rumbling in its chest telling her that it was purring as well.

Decision made, Sam walked to the front and used Anna's money to buy the kitten and the owl from the front of the shop.

* * *

><p>Sam was now heavily weighted down with items, her satchel of books and trinkets, her two bags from the apothecary, and now two separate cages. It was time to find Ira, so she started back up the street towards Flourish and Blotts.<p>

She was almost to the book shop when someone walked out of the cauldron shop right across from it. Sam froze as she realized it was the same boy from the apothecary, and he was headed to the same place that she was going.

Sam knew she had to stop him before she lost him again in the crowd, so she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, cutting him off just outside of the shop.

Several emotions crossed his face, confusion, followed by recognition, and then annoyance before he bit out "What do you want?"

Out of breath, Sam could only hold out one of the apothecary bags after setting down her cages, one of which had been making a horrid racket while she ran.

The boy stared at the bag warily before taking it and looking inside. When he realized it was the scales he had been looking at back in the apothecary, his head shot up and he rudely shoved it back into her arms and sneered, saying "I don't need it."

Having caught her breath, Sam smirked at him and said "Really, that's too bad. I suppose I'll just have to ask around and see if anyone else would like them. Waste not, want not."

She knew she had him when she picked up her cages, turned around and started walking away. He'd have to be insane to give up something that was already going to be given away. And she was right.

He grabbed her arm, successfully halting her and grabbed the bag.

"I owe you nothing." he said, cheeks slightly red, and stomped off.

She giggled slightly as he disappeared in the crowds. Sam had found him quite interesting and secretly hoped she would have him in some of her classes.

"Ah, there you are." Ira had just come out of Flourish and Blotts, pockets overflowing with shrunken books. "Whoa, you bought a lot didn't you." he said looking at the bags and cages.

Sam smiled innocently up at her Uncle and said "Whatever do you mean?" checking her pockets only to find a handful of sickles and knuts.

Shaking his head at his niece's mock innocence, he said "We'd best be getting back to the flat before Anna has a cow. You know how she gets when we're still gone and she's already done with dinner."

Sam nodded in agreement, clasping her growling stomach as he grabbed the two cages. Ready to get back to a hot meal, nice comfortable bed, and a chance to read her new books, Sam turned around and…WHAM!

"Sam, are you okay?"

Sam was now sprawled on the ground and several of her books had flown out of her bag. Slowly she tried sitting up, her uncle's hand on her arm, helping her. Looking to see 'what' she had run into, she found that it wasn't a 'what', but a 'whom'.

Another boy was on the ground already gathering up both of their things that had gotten knocked askew, mumbling apologies under his breath and looking rather stricken. Sam immediately started helping him and telling him it was quite alright and that it was her fault not his.

"I'm Samantha Burke. Sorry about that, I've been told many times I can be a bit one track minded. It's not the first time, and certainly not the last that I will run into someone." She said with a smile, grabbing some of her books from his arms.

"Remus Lupin. It was partly my fault, if I had been paying attention I could have probably dodged you." he said, standing before helping her up.

"You alright?" Ira said coming up from behind and waving his wand around her and muttering a few spells under his breath.

"Yep." She said reaching out to take back the last of her books. Something was off though, His face had gone completely white and a look of horror had crossed it.

"Remus-"

"I'm sorry I've gotta go!" he said before handing her the book and sprinting away.

"What was that about?" asked Ira as he started walking toward the barrier.

Sam looked at the book in her hand. It was one she had bought just earlier that day; _Werewolves and Other Category XXXXX Creatures_.

'Hmm…' she thought.

* * *

><p>^Neko walks in stage left.^<p>

Sooooo what do you think?

I know it's starting off kind of slow but it's meant to be more of a romance than anything. Besides nothing exciting really happens until their later years in Hogwarts don't cha think? Anyway please R&R if you like the story so far.

On a sadder note. You know your beyond absolute love with a character-more specifically Snape- when you can't even pick up your copy of Deathly Hallows to check a piece of information without making pathetic whiny noises and tearing up. Even more, when you accidently turn to the page of said character's death and can't help but be a masochist by rereading that one part and spending the better part of an hour curled up, bawling your eyes out, and whispering to your pillow "Why? Why, J.K. Rowling? Why?" while listening to the most depressing music you have.

Yep, I've got it bad.

SNAPE! I WUV YOUS!

On another note. What do you think of Sam? Is she cringe worthy? Is she good? What do I need to work on? CC is coveted! :3

Interesting tidbit of information. When I was writing this chapter I already knew I wanted Sam to buy a werewolf book so I was thinking _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_ would do perfectly. Then when I went to look up the book, I found that it wasn't published until 1975. Oops. So I had to create another book for her to buy. That's where I got the one you now see mentioned! :3

^Neko exits stage right.^

Well that's all for now. Next time: HOGWARTS EXPRESS!


	3. Chapter 3

^Neko walks in stage left.^

Third chapter yay!

I know I forgot to do this in the first chapter but I was still iffy on where I wanted this fanfiction to go. Now that I'm sure I will give the necessary warnings.

First, there are two main characters in this story: Sam and Remus. You will be reading from both their experiences as the story goes on. For now though, it will be mostly focused on Sam.

Second, there will be two yaoi couples in this fanfiction. I will not disclose who it will involve but as the story goes on you will probably be able to guess.

Third, the rating will be going up to M as they grow older.

Last, I will be recommending character songs and "moment" songs. Sam's current character song is Fireflies by Owl City.

Now for the disclaimer:

I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. I do own my OC characters (and anything else that is unfamiliar).

^Neko exits stage right.^

On with the story-

* * *

><p>Ch3:<p>

In which three new people are introduced…

It seemed as if the next few days passed very quickly to Sam. The rest of Saturday night, she had immediately delved into _Notable Magical Names of Our Time _and found a lot of useful information on the famous Merlin, including that he had, in fact, gone to Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin. This piqued Sam's curiosity about Hogwarts even more.

Ira had told her many stories about his time in Hogwarts. According to him, the Hogwarts student body was split between four houses, and Ira had been sorted into the house of Ravenclaw. Sam hoped she would as well, as she thought herself quite intelligent, and very bookish. Hufflepuff was the next house he had mentioned. Ira felt, had Anna gone to Hogwarts, she would have been sorted into it. Gryffindor was next, though it didn't appeal to her as much; she wasn't very brave. Last was Slytherin. Ira stayed neutral on this house as it had a bad reputation, but Sam now figured if the Great Merlin was sorted into Slytherin, it couldn't be all bad.

Sam read through _Hogwarts, A History_ half of Sunday, and the other half she spent wandering the streets of London. She even managed to buy the newest album of The Who, a muggle band that she had recently become interested in. She felt sad though when she realized she wouldn't be able to listen to any of her records at Hogwarts, as electronic muggle devices wouldn't work on the grounds.

Monday morning, Anna had taken her to get fitted with her school robes at Madam Malkins. If there was one thing Sam appreciated about the Hogwarts uniform robes, it was that they kept with the traditional all black color schemes. Had she gone to the Salem Witches Institute, she would be wearing robes of purple and silver.

The rest of the day saw Sam hidden away in the back room of the flat, reading up on spells, listening to an assortment of the Beatles and The Who, playing a few tunes on her acoustic guitar, and getting to know her cat and owl, which she had named Twyla and Clyde, respectively. Gabe came in a few times to bug her about being too reclusive but she wouldn't hear it. This would be her last chance to get a listen on all of her beloved muggle music.

Tuesday came and Sam was racked with nerves. It dawned on her that this was it. She would be on her own in an unfamiliar place, and she didn't even have any friends. And what if she didn't end up in Ravenclaw? She'd be devastated!

Ira and Anna had noticed her change in attitude for they both reassured her that no matter what house she ended up in, she would be fine.

"The hat sometimes takes into account your personal feelings." Ira said with a smile.

"And even if you ended up in Slytherin or Gryffindor, it wouldn't matter because that's where you belong." Anna encouraged.

Sam weakly smiled back at them, she still wasn't convinced.

"Here, I know what'll cheer you up." Said Ira, and he walked into one of the bedrooms.

Anna and Gabe both had wide grins on their faces and Sam became curious as to what they had hid from her and how they had managed to _keep_ it hidden.

Ira came out of the room with a wrapped package and handed it to Sam. Her first impression was that it was quite light and a rather hard box shape.

"We'd been working on it for months but it didn't get done for your birthday so we figured now would be a good time to give it to you. It was hard trying to get the spells right, several backfired on us. And you can't tell many people about it; the laws are getting stricter on magically enchanted objects." Anna explained.

"Open it." said Ira. Sam didn't waste any time untying the string that kept the wrappings on.

It was a turntable, brand new. Sam was in awe that they'd go through so many lengths to make her comfortable at school.

"I helped pick it out; I knew you'd want it black." said Gabe, a smug look on his face.

"Thank you so much!" she said, eyes darting over her new gift and previous worries long forgotten.

* * *

><p>Wednesday saw the 'family' on their way to Kings Cross Station. Seeing as how they would be walking they had all dressed in muggle fashion. Sam had dressed in a simple loose tunic and trousers, both black. The legs of her trousers were tucked into a pair of engineer boots.<p>

They were also dragging Sam's luggage along with them. Ira was pulling a large locker with an undetectable extension charm on it which held almost all of her belongings; Anna was carrying the cages. Sam had taken her satchel and filled it with books and other things she wanted with her on the ride. On her back was her guitar; she couldn't bear to part with it.

It was rather windy out, and Sam's hair kept being blown into her face. She was trying to pick out a few of the strands from the corner of her glasses and flatten it down, when another clump of fluffy, dark brown fell onto her nose. Giving up on any hair taming today, she settled with moving the strands behind her ears.

"I told you to put your hair up." Said Anna, amused.

"You know how much I hate it." Sam retorted. "Besides, we're almost there."

And they were for not five minutes later; they were inside the station, starting to walk down the platforms.

"Why is it 9 ¾ and not 9 ½?" asked Gabe as they passed platform 4.

"Why not?" Sam said with a smile and tilted her head.

Gabe glared at his older cousin.

Platforms 9 and 10 now stood before them and Anna took Gabe's hand and casually leaned on the barrier slipping through. Ira started next with Sam's main luggage, knowing she would follow.

Through the barrier, the Platform was crowded, as it was already 10 till 11.

Sam taking her luggage, she turned to look at Ira, Anna, and Gabe; the family that took her in just 5 years ago. Her family. Sadness crept over her but she refused to cry as she hugged each of them. It was only for a few months, and then she would be back with them for the holidays.

"Be good, and I mean that in the loosest way possible." Said Anna, knowing how sneaky Sam could be.

"And don't forget to write!" Ira laughed, "It's why you have an owl!"

Sam giggled. Gabe was the last to hug her. He didn't say anything, but they all knew he'd miss her the most.

"You be good, too. Don't go giving your father a hard time like you do me. And be nice to Anna, she feeds you after all." Sam said, patting his blond head.

Gabe nodded his head, looking at her with red rimmed green eyes, and when the whistle of the train blew, they parted. Sam picked up her luggage and boarded the train, going to the nearest window to look out at them one last time waving as the train started moving.

She wanted to memorize this moment, Ira, whom Gabe took after mostly in looks and Anna with her mouse brown hair, and pale blue eyes. This was the last she would see of them until winter break.

She watched until she couldn't see them anymore, then turned around and went in search of a compartment.

Most of the ones she came across were already full. She went through several carriages and was dead tired lugging around the locker and two cages. Each carriage turned up with at least three people in them. Sam was at the end of her rope when, in the last compartment, there two rowdy boys and a poor girl sitting in the corner trying to drown them out with a book. She decided the next compartment she would take even if it had someone in it.

She peeked in through the curtain and found a ginger-haired boy sitting by himself reading a book. Sam opened the door and peaked in, timidly asking "Do you mind?"

The boy looked up before shaking his head and gesturing to the seat across from him.

"Compartments all full?"

"Yep." She answered, putting her luggage on the rack and sitting down. "Rather annoying, if you ask me."

"First year here, then, I take it?" he asked, amused.

"Uh huh. That obvious?"

The ginger smiled sheepishly before asking "You're not from around here are you? Your accent is different."

"American, actually."

"Wicked! We don't get many Americans at Hogwarts." He said smiling. "Pardon my manners, I'm Matthew Ricker."

He held out his hand.

"Samantha Burke." Sam said, taking it. "But most people who know me call me Sam."

"Sam, huh? Then you can call me Matt. Don't mind me asking but why Sam and not Samantha?"

"There's this popular muggle TV show with a witch named Samantha- Bewitched, I do believe it is called. I'd rather not be associated with it."

Matts eyebrows shot up. "A muggle TV show? You watch muggle TV?"

"Sometimes." She mumbled.

"You wouldn't happen to be muggleborn, would you?" he asked, fascinated.

If she could, Sam would have been a very nice shade of red. "My birth parents are muggle but I've been raised in a magic environment for the last five years."

"I'm a half blood myself." said Matt seemingly ignoring Sam's short bout of nervousness. "My mum's a muggle and she always goes on about me being 'cultured' so I know quite a few muggle device-thingies."

Sam nodded her head at that. It wasn't that she was ashamed of being a muggleborn, but seeing as how Slytherin house had a reputation for pureblood supremacy and she hadn't been sorted yet, she was a little hesitant when talking about her blood.

Not wanting to seem rude for leaving the conversation hanging, she changed the subject.

"I see you've already changed into your robes." She said noticing a Ravenclaw badge on his outer robe.

"I like to change early. The school year has already officially started of course."

Sam smiled "Mind if I?"

"No, go on. I'll just wait outside. Knock on the door when you're done."

Matt left and Sam immediately took out her robes from her satchel and put them on. Twyla had woken up finally and was clawing at the side of the cage so Sam let her out into the compartment and knocked on the door.

Matt came back in but he was not alone.

"These two need seats do you mind if they join us?"

Sam shook her head and sat down again scooting closer to the window to make room. Twyla hopped on her lap and began purring. Matt walked in and put a few more bags into the racks above and two students walked in and sat down.

A girl with red hair sat next to Sam. It took a moment but Sam recognized her from earlier in that one compartment trying to ignore her other compartment companions. She had a nice look about her with her soft green eyes that reminded Sam of Ira and Gabe.

Turning to the other new person next to Matt, she had to stifle a gasp as she recognized the boy from the apothecary. From the look on his face it seemed he recognized her as well. She looked away toward the window, feigning interest in the scenery but secretly studied him from behind her long fluffy bangs.

He was rather thin with secondhand robes that hung off his frame like a curtain. The only saving grace was that he looked rather good in black. Dull lanky black hair and black eyes to match was the next thing Sam notice about him, along with his parchment colored skin and a frown on his thin lips. The last thing Sam took in was probably the most noticeable thing about him. He had a large aquiline nose that could be only described as beak like.

The red head brought her out of her thoughts when she introduced herself as Lily Evans and her companion as Severus Snape.

'So, Severus is his name.' Sam thought as Matt took the liberty of introducing them as well.

After the pleasantries were done an awkward silence had befallen the compartment.

Lily was the one who saved the moment this time by starting up a conversation about school houses.

This was how they spent their ride to Hogwarts. Matt and Lily talked the most with Sam adding a comment or two every few minutes. Severus would only speak up when the subject appealed to him.

Sam discovered many things about her compartment companions. It turns out; Matt was a second year Ravenclaw and knew quite a lot about the inner workings of Hogwarts. Sam was delighted by this news as she had worried from reading the _Hogwarts, A History_ book that she would end up falling for a lot of the little enchantments placed about the school. Matt ensured her though that he wouldn't let that happen.

She became relieved as well when she found that Severus had his mind set on Slytherin house. Now no matter what house she got into, Ravenclaw or Slytherin, she would have someone familiar to talk to. He idolized the house and the more he talked about it, the more Sam started to warm up to the idea of being a potential Slytherin.

The main problem with those in Slytherin was that the temptation of power was sometimes too great. Many Slytherins had trouble fighting it, hence the bad reputation. Merlin, one of the greatest wizards in history was a Slytherin. That should give an indication about the possibilities of what a truly good Slytherin could become. Slytherin might have had the worst reputation but it had the potential to create the best witches and wizards. The effect was slightly shattered at the next comment made.

When Lily disclosed to them that she was a muggleborn, and small shiver of panic ran up Sam's spine. With Severus' fascination with Slytherin, and the fact that she might end up in Slytherin, her eyes quickly darted to Matt. She had expected him to let out that she was one too. His eyes met hers with understanding and, relieving, didn't say anything on the matter.

The last few hours of their ride saw them in a relaxed state. They had all brought out a book to read and Twyla was contentedly curled up on Sam's lap purring from being petted. The trolley stopped by and Sam and Matt got a few snacks for everyone. Finally the train pulled into the Hogsmead station and people started moving about the carriages.

Stretching out the kinks in his legs Matt said, "Well, looks like we're here."

* * *

><p>^Neko walks in stage left.^<p>

R&R please! I know that several people have looked at this story already and yet all I get out of it is one review? Come on people we can do better than that! Mrowr!

Thank you to my first reviewer, even though I honestly don't know what you meant by "gontie". :3

Interesting tidbit of information about the creation of this story; I discovered this app which gives you the exact days of the week and moon phases for any year you wish. Hogwarts started on Wednesday September 1st, 1971. The moon was a waxing gibbous. That Saturday, the 4th, was a full moon, hence why you'll see that Remi will go missing on Friday in the future chapters (he's sick with PMS-snerk). All the days and corresponding moon phases will be accurate in this fanfiction.

A little about the characters!

While I'm not big on the whole 'describe exactly what something looks like to the finest detail', I noticed that the past two chapters had almost no indication to what the OC characters looked like. So I tried my best to incorporate some of their descriptions in the chapter. If they were confusing at all here's a little summary:

Sam has very fluffy dark brown hair that is about shoulder length. Her eyes are dark brown as well (not as dark as Snape's though). Her skin is slightly darker than but not as dark as someone who spends a lot of time in the sun from, say, Mexico. She wears black wire framed glasses and most of her normal clothes are black. She is also rather on the shorter side for her age.

Ira has long light blond hair that he always keeps in a ponytail. It goes to under his shoulder blades when down. His eyes are green and he is quite tall.

Gabe takes after Ira, his father. He has blond hair, slightly darker than Ira's and its cut short. His eyes are green. He is about 7 yrs old.

Anna has lanky mouse brown hair that goes to her mid back. She is plain looking but her startling pale blue eyes tend to capture peoples' interest. Contrary to what some of you may think Anna is not Gabe's mother. She is a close friend of Ira's who has been helping him for a couple years. She is also sticks around a lot because she sees herself as a mother figure for Sam and Gabe.

Matt is a character whom Sam has just met so I'm not disclosing much extra info about him other than he has chin length, slicked back, ginger hair and hazel eyes.

So, a little about this chapter! :3

Sam is already showing an unnatural interest in our dear Sevi isn't she? :3

But she won't realize anything until quite later! She is only 11 after all and most (not all) kids that age aren't focused on romantic relationships.

She is also in conflict on her possible house. She wants desperately to be in Ravenclaw but can't seem to admit that the more she hears about Slytherin, the more it seems to fit her. Foreshadowing anyone?

Again I hope Sam isn't cringe worthy. Please, for the love of (insertnamehere), review!

On a side note, the word "Slytherin" show up 15 times!

^Neko exits stage right.^

I think that's it for now. Next time: Sorting Ceremony!


	4. Chapter 4

^Neko walks in stage left^

Fourth post!

Yeah, sorry about the long wait. I've been going through some stuff on top of college so I'm trying to not let my feelings affect my writing.

This chapter took soo long to finish. I got writer's block for like an entire week so I hope it's still decent for all of you faithful readers(I would say reviewers but…).

Disclaimer:

I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. I do own my OC characters (and anything else that is unfamiliar).

^Neko exits stage right^

-On with the story

* * *

><p>Ch. 4<p>

In which key players are sorted…

Because Matt was a second year he had to leave Sam, Severus, and Lily behind. Sam released Clyde from his cage and he soared away, presumably to the owlry. Sam held Twyla in her arms. The rest of their things they left on the train- it would be sent to their rooms later via house elf magic. They exited the train into the long throng of students shuffling along toward the end of the platform.

A large man stood ushering the first years around him and Sam couldn't help but stare, like many of her other classmates. Large didn't even begin to cover his size. He towered over the tallest seventh year by several feet. Ten first years couldn't even make the width of him. His size would have been intimidating had is face not had the warmth of a sweet little puppy. Sam caught his eyes and she awkwardly smiled, unsure of herself. Only with his naturally expressive eyes, was Sam able to tell he was smiling from his thick beard.

When all of the first years had been gathered they were led away from everyone else down a path to a dock on the vast lake that surrounded the school. There were three to a boat so the three of them easily got one and they were off.

It wasn't long before the school fully came into sight. It was a massive castle with tall towers and it even had a forest. It was, in a word, grand. The stone walls could be easily seen as aged and many lights from the windows lit up the castle quite beautifully. Sam was beyond impressed, and Lily and Severus couldn't help taking in a sudden breath of air.

They docked and got off the boats, entering into the entrance hall through the dock passage and into a large entryway. There they met a stern looking woman in robes of green next to a large set of doors. She began explaining to them what was going to be happening.

"I am Professor McGonagall. I will be your transfiguration teacher. In a few minutes you will follow me into the great hall where I will call you up to the sorting hat and you will be sorted into your houses. Then you will sit with the rest of your house mates. For those who don't know there are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Know that while you're at Hogwarts, you house will be like your family. You will live, study and eat with them. At the end of the year, we have the House cup where we tally up all the points your house has gathered throughout the year and the house with the most points wins the cup. Any good behavior earns your house points, any rule breaking loses points. Are there any questions?"

"Yes, do we really need to go through with the sorting if we're going to end up in Gryffindor anyway?" a messy black haired kid with glasses spoke up in the back. His other black haired friend gave him a high five.

Professor McGonagall smiled thinly, "With an attitude like that, Mr. Potter, I fear for the future of my house participating in the cup. Please refrain from anymore of it."

With that the Great Hall's doors opened and the first years entered, going to stand between the teachers table and the house tables. Professor McGonagall brought in a stool with a battered old hat on it and placed it before everyone. She then took out a long list and called out "Avery, Roan"

A boy with dirt brown hair slinked through the rest of the classmates and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on his head not more than a few seconds before crying out "Slytherin!" The Slytherins cheered for getting their first new classmate.

Next "Black, Sirius" was called. Everyone in the room seemed to become quiet. All eyes were on the black haired figure that seemed to saunter up and sit casually on the stool. Sam saw that it was the same boy whom had high fived that Potter kid. She was already not very fond of him. He seemed too 'holier than thou' for her liking.

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. For a time nothing happened, but the look of concentration on Black's face was getting more pronounced. Finally, when everyone was at the edge of their seats the hat cried out "Gryffindor!"

The reaction was deafening. A mix of cheers and boos came from opposite sides of the Hall. Black, with all the suave in the world, strutted to the Gryffindor table where a small fan girl group seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Lily wrinkled her nose at the whole display and said "Ridiculous."

Severus glared at the boy the entire time.

Sam, for the simple fact she was American, had no idea what the fuss was about. The entire thing puzzled her until her name, "Burke, Samantha!" was suddenly called over the mass. It felt like her stomach had fallen away from her as she realized it was now her time to be sorted.

"Go on Sam." Lily said from behind her.

Sam walked slowly up to the stool, Twyla still in her arms. She looked at Professor McGonagall before sitting on the stool. Her nerves were so high it felt as if she was going to throw up. What if she didn't get Ravenclaw? What if she got Slytherin?

She glanced at the Slytherin table, the majority of which looked more ready to eat her than welcome her. Twyla mewed quietly and licked her chin in a way that said 'Don't worry, Mistress. I'm still here'. Sam calmed a bit at that. And then, her vision went dark.

"Interesting, very interesting." A voice whispered in her ear. "Plenty of ambition and resourcefulness. And very cunning indeed. But I also see a lot of intelligence, wit, and creativity. Then again, most of that steams into your cunning and ambition, now doesn't it?"

"I rather like Ravenclaw. Can I be a Ravenclaw?" Sam asked.

"Ravenclaw. You have a lot of the traits but they only exist to boost other traits. Yes, yes, disregard for the rules and even hidden leadership qualities. You will fit in well with…"

"Slytherin!" the hat cried.

Sam's blood had turned to ice. She didn't even hear the cheer she had gotten from Slytherin table at first. She started her long walk to the table on the far right, when Matt at Ravenclaw table caught her eye. He gave her a thumb up and smiled. Suddenly she didn't feel as bad. She looked back at Severus and Lily. Severus had a new look she had never seen on his face. It was one of pride and relief.

Sam looked back at Slytherin table and smirked. 'Alright,' she thought, 'If I'm a Slytherin then I'll be the best Slytherin I can be.' And with that she took a seat next to a blonde sixth year girl who had been talking to another blond seventh year boy across the table.

"Welcome to Slytherin!" she said.

"Thanks." Sam replied. Sam knew that Slytherins were a tight bunch with a lot of pride. She was already figuring that she'd have to make a right impression on them to not be tossed around too much. "I had a feeling I would end up in this house." She said with a light smirk.

The seventh year blond boy across the table inclined his head a bit, "You're a yank. Tell me, what is a yank doing at Hogwarts?" His voice was a drawl, dripping with disinterest. Sam knew that this was a test though. She could already see that this boy-no, man- was a powerful person to reckon with.

"Salem Witches Institute held no interest to me." She started, with a bored tone, "I have family members who have gone to Hogwarts before, so I decided to go as well. After all, it is the best in the world."

It wasn't a lie, her adoptive uncle had gone to Hogwarts and she was now part of the family. This would keep any future Slytherins from bothering her too much about blood status. She had just confirmed that she had magical history in her family; she just forgot to mention she was adopted.

Satisfied with her answer, they went back to talking with each other.

Lily was the next sorting to be noted. She looked as scared as Sam had felt walking up to the stool and putting on the hat. Sam smirked inwardly, 'Not so enthusiastic now, are we my friend?'

The hat didn't take that long before crying out "Gryffindor!"

Sam quirked an eyebrow. 'Gryffindor? Huh, that's interesting.'

Sam chanced a glance at Severus whom seemed very close to Lily. His face had changed to one of complete horror as it sunk in that his close friend would be in Gryffindor, the rival house to Slytherin. Sam felt very sorry for him and swore that if he got Slytherin she would do the best to support his friendship with Lily. She would never let a house rivalry tear her from her friends and she didn't think it should happen to him either.

There was one thing that bothered her though. Sam was a very observant person and right then she was observing something no one else of importance seemed to be noticing. The Potter kid was staring at Lily as she walked to the cheering Gryffindor table.

Sam shook her head. 'It's not as if it's illegal to stare at someone.' She thought to herself. 'I really need to mind my own business.' And with that she shoved the passing observation to the back of her mind.

Sam zoned out from the sorting, listening to some of the things the two blondes were saying. She soon found that unappealing for the level of hate there seemed to be for anyone with muggle blood.

By this time Sam was getting tired. The food hadn't appeared yet and she was almost ready to get to her common room for some good sleep before classes tomorrow. She tried to keep away, but ended up zoning out again for a very long time while several other first years got sorted into the four school houses.

Sam just managed to catch a name "Lupin, Remus." Being called after some other boy was sorted into Gryffindor. There was something familiar about this name but Sam couldn't remember so she took a chance look at the boy sitting on the sorting stool.

"By Merlin's white beard!" Sam whispered as she recognized the boy she had literally run into at Diagon Alley. His ash brown bangs got even more into his amber colored eyes as the hat was dropped over his head. Yep, this was the boy who freaked out and ran away after taking a look at her book. Sam had deduced that it must have been something he saw on the cover that had scared him. He had piqued her interest at Diagon Alley and, like anything that piqued her interest; she wanted to get to know him.

Suddenly the hat cried "Gryffindor!"

'Ah, pure dead brilliant.' This would be a lot harder to befriend him than she thought.

She watched interested as his face turned green and he slowly made his way to a seat at the house table, immediately pulling a book out from his robes. Sam smirked. At least they already had a conversation starter, she thought, remembering her somewhat large pile of books now waiting for her in Slytherin dorms.

Sam was left planning cunning ways in which she could corner the Gryffindor, as more people were sorted. Her stomach by now was protesting the long wait on food. She may have had a few snacks on the train but there was no way it could have fully tided her over until dinner. It was no surprise when her stomach let out a large growl. The blond across the table got an annoyed look on his face as he was interrupted, while the blonde next to her became very amused.

"It's too bad they don't have better lunch service on the train. With all the money Lucius' father puts into this school, one would expect better quality. If you ask me, some of the teachers could do with a little less pay." The blonde wrinkled her upturned nose at this. "Don't worry Miss…"

"Ah, Burke. Samantha Burke." Sam said politely.

"Miss Burke, we are already in the 'O's. The sorting should soon be over with. And I am Narcissa Black. This is Lucius Malfoy. You might not know this, being American and all," Sam frowned slightly, "but the Malfoy and the Black family are reviled for being of some of the purest blood around. You would do well to remember this. I have taken a liking to you so you might just be invited to some of our special parties."

Sam politely thanked Narcissa for her "kindness". Operation: Get Into Slytherin High Standings was so far a success; Sam was just worried that this might come to bite her in the butt later.

She turned to pay more attention to the sorting after a pudgy boy by the name "Peter Pettigrew" was sorted into Gryffindor.

A full out frown crossed her face as "Potter, James" was called and the same messy black hair was seen moving through what was still left of the first years.

Lucius apparently noticed her frown for he said "It be best to stay away from that one and any friends he makes. All the Potters and their friends seem to have an unnatural tolerance for mudbloods."

Sam stifled a gasp: that word. She was beginning to not like this blond. She was a "mudblood".

Sam knew she couldn't let that fact be known so she settled with nodding her head while thinking about how the Malfoy would look if he ever found out he actually talked to a muggle born like her.

Meanwhile, Potter was-no surprise- sorted into Gryffindor. There was a huge cheer as he made his way to the table and sat next to Black. They both gave each other looks before smiling most suspiciously toward a seething Severus.

Sam must have missed something important. She would have to ask Severus what happened tomorrow though.

Two more letters of the alphabet passes before the "S"s were reached and with it, Severus.

"Snape, Severus" was called and the pale boy in question walked stiffly up to the stool and sat down. His teeth were clenched, Sam could tell, and he was grasping his knees but other than that, he was a lot calmer than half the others who had been sorted.

"A friend of yours?" She heard Lucius drawl from across the table.

"Something like that." She replied, still focused on him.

"Slytherin, no doubt." Lucius surprisingly smiled, although the smile itself was quite expressionless, if that was at all possible.

Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto Severus' lanky hair, but it hadn't even touched before, "Slytherin!" could be heard from its mouth.

Sam smiled big as she waited for him to make it over to the table. There was an open seat next to Lucius that she hoped he would take. She also looked around at Lily and Matt, one was smiling worriedly and the other was giving another smile and thumb up, respectively.

Severus, like she had wanted him to, sat next to Lucius who patted him on the back. Narcissa welcomed him and Sam smiled. Of all the reactions of his joining of the house the one he reacted to the most was hers, in which he nodded towards her.

The sorting finally ended and the food appeared after a word from the headmaster. Sam was so hungry, she dug right in, grabbing mostly vegetables but managed a few pieces of chicken and minced pie, which she had never tried before. There were in fact several dishes she had never even seen. She would have tried to eat more but seeing as she was already the one getting the most to eat of all the people around her, she decided to cut back. Twyla had woken up from her nap on Sam's lap and mewed at the smells. Sam ended up catering to her plea by feeding her some poached salmon.

Severus and Lucius, it seemed, were already on good standings as they had started a decent conversation. It began as a discussion on dark spells. There being a 6 year difference between them, it was something when Lucius was impressed with Severus' knowledge on dark spells. Seeing as how this didn't interest her as much she was content with listening along with Narcissa. It was when their conversation switched to poisons and their effects that Sam decided to speak up and truly showed where her talents lay.

It began when they started discussing Basilisk venom and its dark effects on a person. Severus had brought it up when he was describing the best way to poison a person. The effects were very fast working but they weren't disastrous enough for Lucius, who apparently liked seeing his enemies, suffer a lot- Sam got this from his preferred methods of torture. Severus then offered up dragon venom as the next option. Peruvian Vipertooth venom tended to melt victims from the inside out, a form of pre-digestion to make up for their smaller size compared to their preferred prey. Lucius liked that idea a lot more but started to go into other poisons one could mix with the venom to make the effects even more gruesome. It was at the point in which he mentioned mixing the venom with baneberry poison that Sam had to step in.

"First off, Baneberry and Vipertooth would make a horrible effect. Sure, the person would still end up dead but they would be dead faster than you can say the killing curse. I can tell you are looking for something that would leave them writhing in agony without any completely functional antidote."

At this point she had all three fellow Slytherins attention. She had paused for effect. Lucius, undeniable curious, and if she dare say, impatient, asked her to elaborate.

"Well, if you are going for a down right cruel way to kill someone, you could always use the venom of a Haunt. Haunts, from what I know, aren't usually taught in schools like this because they preferably hang around in the mountains. They are terribly vicious wolf-like creatures that prefer the taste of human flesh above all else. Their venom though, is probably even worse than they are. Trust me when I say, if you were to ever to be bitten by one, I suggest you let it finish the job."

Narcissa, at this point, gave an involuntary shiver. Severus was completely engrossed in what Sam had to say. And Lucius, well, he had a most pleased look. Annoying if you asked her; like an owner who was proud that his pedigree puppy had won first place in a competition. Knowing she would be chastised if she didn't continue, she started in on the effects.

"The venom works very slow and it can take up to 48 hours for the victim to fall into an irreversible coma that causes death within 3 more hours. The first of the effects can be thought of as something like a superhuman effect. The person slows down all over, from their heart to their brain. This causes the 48 hours to seem even longer to the victim. Along with slowing down, the person is completely paralyzed. The venom does its work by first liquefying the bones in the body. That way; pain is still capable of being felt. After liquefying many of the bones, it begins working on the outside of the skin, until the person sheds their skin like a snake. The only down side is there isn't a replacement…Are you alright, Narcissa?"

"Fine." Came her short reply. She had shoved away her plate along with a few others down the table who had begun listening to Sam's…_detailed_…explanation on the effects of one of the world's nastiest venoms.

"Shall I go on?" Sam asked, slightly amused by the reactions she was getting. Lucius and Severus still seemed interested but after looking around they too decided this was a conversation best continued later.

"That's perfectly fine for now." Lucius started, "What I can't help but wonder is how a first year Yank like you got so informed on a section of dark arts."

Sam smirked, "Well, my uncle just so happens to be a fairly popular Potion's master from where I come from. He's been teaching my cousin and me many potions related topics over the years. Poisons and venoms are something you have to be aware of when working around them."

"You know, I'm rather glad you are a part of Slytherin. Your services might just be called upon in the future."

Sam was ecstatic. She hadn't even been at school a full 3 hours and there was someone already praising her for her abilities. Soon she would be on her way to being the greatest Potion's Mistress to ever walk these halls.

Unbeknownst to her were the implications of Lucius' last comment.

* * *

><p>Dinner and dessert finished with a few words from the head master. Then the Prefects of the houses began leading the students- more specifically the first years to their respected common rooms. Sometime during the feast, Twyla had fallen asleep so Sam wrapped her in the sleeve of her robe.<p>

She caught a glimpse of Matt smile at her before he too continued with the rest of the Ravenclaws. Lucius and Narcissa were Prefects for Slytherin so Severus and Sam got to be at the very front of the group.

They were led down several levels to the cellars of Hogwarts. They finally descended the last set of stairs into a small, dark, hallway that clearly led through the dungeons. Just a few feet down Lucius stopped in front of a portion of the wall. He traced a small crack in the wall carefully. It wasn't until he took his hand away that Sam realized that it crudely resembled a snake in the shape of an "S".

"This is the entrance to the Common room. It would do well to remember it. If you do forget, however shameful that is, I suggest for your own sakes you ask a fellow year rather than an upper year. You will also need to know the password. They change every fortnight and are posted on the notice board. My advice applies to this as well. Listen up for I will only say the password once. Serpent!"

The wall seemed to shift over its self as an opening was quickly made and everyone filed through the small hallway that lead to the common room. Those upper years went about their normal business of preparing for tomorrow, leaving the first years to admire their new common room.

At first look, the dungeon room gave off an eerie feeling with the green iridescent light coming from the windows. It was very dark and to some may have seemed creepy but Sam found it quite cozy. It had cushy leather seats and a low fire place in the corner. Snakes were the main motif of course and many sections of the masonry were carved in the shapes of serpents. It would be a lie to say Sam didn't love snakes. It was the exact place that she would find comfort in. Sam immediately felt sleep overcome her and all she now wanted to do was crawl into her bed.

She bade goodnight to Severus and Lucius while Narcissa offered to show her to her dorm room.

"If you have any problems with any of our fellow Slytherins just let me know. I'll make sure to take care of it." Narcissa smiled in the door way before going to her own dorm room.

Sam yawned and finally put Twyla down. It hadn't even crossed her mind what a good kitten she had been throughout the night. The only thing on Sam's mind was sleep and after she found the bed with her luggage next to it, it wasn't long till she was fast asleep.

* * *

><p>^Neko walks in stage left^<p>

Like I said sorry about the wait. Thigs going on an all.

Sooo Sam is def showing interest in several characters now. And look! She is now friends with Lucius and Narcissa! Future foreshadowing anyone?

Now you might be thinking that all the key players have been introduced but that is far from the truth. There is still one more player we need but sadly he won't be introduced until well into the story. Just keep it in your memory.

Oooh I can't wait to write the next few chapters! In two more chapters Remmie's story will be revealed and the story will start going between them.

One more word: Please! Review! I'll even give you a template!

First thoughts:

What I liked:

What I didn't like:

What needs improvement:

Other thoughts(if any):

Now, there shouldn't be any reason why someone wouldn't be able to give good criticism. I shall be expecting at least 3 different reviewers who aren't Emmy or anyone else I know. I know Im now being a bit anal about this but I am an aspiring author and I need to build up my criticism tolerance.

^Neko exits stage right^

Well that's all for now. Next time: First day of school!


End file.
